ITHACA, NY(wskg) -
National Public Radio Political correspondent, Mara Liasson, gave a talk entitled, A View From Washington: Covering Hot-Button Issues last Thursday evening, April 7 in Park Hall Auditorium, in the Park School of Communications, Ithaca College, in Ithaca New York, one in the "Jessica Savitch Distinguished Journalism Lecture series" talks, named in honor of the late Ithaca College journalism alumna.

Mara Liasson provides extensive coverage of politics and policy from Washington, DC -- focusing on the White House and Congress -- and also reports on political trends beyond the Beltway. Each election year, Liasson provides key coverage of the candidates and issues in both presidential and congressional races. During her tenure she has covered three presidential elections -- in 1992, 1996, and 2000. Prior to her current assignment, Liasson was NPR's White House correspondent for all eight years of the Clinton administration. She has won the White House Correspondents Association's Merriman Smith Award for daily news coverage in 1994, 1995, and again in 1997. From 1989-1992 Liasson was NPR's congressional correspondent.

Liasson joined NPR in 1985 as a general assignment reporter and newscaster. From September 1988 to June 1989 she took a leave of absence from NPR to attend Columbia University in New York as a recipient of a Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism.